Photoshoot for an event during Manchester Literature Festival. Sometimes as a promoter you rack your brains trying to think up a photo that is not the conventional head and shoulders shot - something that will attract the interest of the casual newspaper viewer/reader. This photoshoot was a real saga.
We started out in Longsight and asked the venue where we were going to do the reading if we could do the shoot there. He said no, they hadn't cleaned the kitchen enough and since the owner was selling up but the ink wasn't on the ocntract yet he didn't want to do anything -however minor - that might rock the boat! He also told me we might not have the venue if he sold before the day of the show. (I didnt bother telling the writers that, but that evening quietly arranged a Plan B - to use a place across the road, if the venue was sold before the day of our gig. You gotta keep your wits about you in this game.)
We then tried another huge prestigious place in Stockport, once again no luck, can't rememeber the reason but since we turned up without notice, fair enough. Finally, we made our way to Gogi's / Royal Naz- the place where we had launched a book. The owner of Gogis was selling up too. But he let us do the shoot. We got some great pics, all gleaming steel, chef hats etc. And I learnt something about the precariousness of the restaurant trade - two out of three owners selling up!
Purpose of this ramble? As writers we dont bother too much thinking about visuals. But the brochure / website producers always love a great image and it can be the difference between a press running your story and not...?

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